IDDC and its members believe that influencing United Nations institutions and processes to adopt a human rights-based approach to persons with disabilities is a vital part of our advocacy work.

The United Nations (UN) proved to be a pivotal institution to foster inclusive development and promote the full and effective enjoyment of human rights by all persons with disabilities worldwide, in particular through the adoption of 2 key processes:

  • The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol. Adopted on 13 December 2006, the CRPD is a landmark international treaty intended to protect the rights and dignity of people with disabilities. The CRPD is a comprehensive human rights convention and international development tool that is legally-binding: parties to the Convention are required to promote, protect, and ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by people with disabilities and ensure that they enjoy full equality under the law.  The CRPD is grounded on the human rights-based approach, moving away from previous models on how to approach disability, in particular the so-called medical model. Understanding the human rights-based approach to disability is a key prerequisite to ensure that policy-makers and other stakeholders that will work on issues affecting the rights of persons with disabilities, design laws, policies and programmes in a way that is consistent with the CRPD. The Convention is at the heart of IDDC work.
  • The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Adopted on 25 September 2015, Agenda 2030 includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),169 associated targets and 232 indicators. The SDGs were developed to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which ended in 2015. Persons with disabilities were not included in the MDGs and consequently excluded from many development initiatives and funding streams. In contrast, the 2030 Agenda includes persons with disabilities: disability is referenced in various parts of the SDGs and specifically in parts related to education, growth and employment, inequality, accessibility of human settlements, as well as data collection and monitoring of the SDGs. The principle of “leaving no one behind” urges Governments to empower the most vulnerable (including persons with disabilities) to ensure that the Goals and targets are met for all people.

After actively participating in the elaboration process of both the CRPD and the 2030 Agenda, the Task Group’s main aim is to ensure their implementation, with a special focus on international cooperation.

Key Data

  • There are currently 185 ratifications to the CRPD and 100 ratifications to its Optional Protocol (as of 6 May 2022)
  • There are 11 explicit references to persons with disabilities in the 2030 Agenda
  • There are 11 explicit references to persons with disabilities in the global indicator framework

Key achievements

  • Contributed to the CRPD with input on inclusive development
  • Influenced the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the 2030 Agenda
  • Increased visibility and meaningful engagement of persons with disabilities in the implementation and follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda. This includes the High-level Political Forum in which there was strong representation of persons with disabilities and advocates.
  • Influenced the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the global indicator framework adopted by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in July 2017
  •  Influenced the Inter-agency Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) indicator process to ensure disaggregation of data by disability
  • Collaborated with IDA and GQUAL to campaign for gender parity in CRPD Committee elections in side events and joint statements
  • Participated in and influenced the creation of UN Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) via the IASG-CRPD.

Upcoming priorities